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Boulder County second in the state in equine disease

By Tony Kindelspire

Times-Call staff writer

Posted:
08/23/2014 02:36:02 PM MDT

Updated:
08/24/2014 09:18:43 AM MDT

Volunteer Caitlyn Tyrrell, of Fort Collins, leads a horse named Kai into a pen for feeding Friday at Colorado Horse Rescue. The fly masks and fly sheets are being used to prevent horses from contracting Vesicular stomatitis which can be transmitted from flies. (Matthew Jonas / Longmont Times-Call)

A viral disease that's rapidly spreading among Colorado's horse community has had a particularly severe impact in Boulder County.

Vesicular stomatitis is spread primarily by flies, and the disease tends to hit Colorado in roughly five- or 10-year cycles, according to veterinarian David Sievers, owner of Sievers Equine Sports Medicine in the Broomfield/Brighton area.

He said that VSV is endemic in Mexico and every so often jumps across the Rio Grande into Texas and then is carried north. So far Colorado and Texas are the only U.S. states to show signs of the disease, which can affect a variety of hooved animals but is much more dangerous to cattle, for example, than horses.

"It has the ability to really damage cow udders, dairy herds, that kind of thing," Sievers said, adding that its impact on the cattle population can be devastating economically.

The state veterinarian's office at the Department of Agriculture has been quarantining properties where VSV has been found among horses in an effort to curb its spread. But despite the state's efforts the disease has spread rapidly. On July 24, only seven properties in the whole state were under quarantine. By August 6 that number had jumped to 69, and as of Thursday there were 186 properties that had been quarantined, although quarantines had been lifted at two of them.

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In the eight counties in which VSV has been discovered, the largest number of locations under quarantine is the 67 in Weld County, followed closely by the 60 in Boulder County. The next-highest number is 38 in Larimer County.

One of those under quarantine is the Colorado Therapeutic Riding Center, in Weld County southeast of Longmont along Colorado 52.

"We are actually seven days away from being off the state quarantine, so next Friday we're free," said Lindsey Moloznik, the center's barn manager.

"We only had three (out of 28) horses that had it and we were fairly lucky in that none of them had it on their tongues," Moloznik said. "All three had it on the outside of their muzzle."

While VSV isn't life threatening to horses it can make them uncomfortable, because it can cause open sores and lesions.

"We're seeing certain groups of horses only get it certain ways," said Sievers. "The type of fly that can give it can vary, and certain flies have a predilection to go to certain areas on the horse. For example, there are flies that prefer the ears, or the midline of the belly, or the hooves. It is mostly limited to areas that do not have hair."

Moloznik said her staff took extra precautions with the CTRC's three affected horses, such as not letting them share drinking water with the other horses, and making sure staff properly washed up after being around them.

She said that after the state vet determines that the last animal on a property to have it is completely healed, there is a 21-day precautionary waiting period before the quarantine is lifted.

Colorado Horse Rescue's 54 horses have stayed VSV-free, despite several properties around its location on N. 65th Street that have been put under quarantine, according to Carol Brice, its program director.

"We're applying daily fly spray to each of the horses, we have increased the number of fly traps we have on the property, on the horses that are most prone to be bitten we have covered them with fly sheets and fly masks, and we are checking each horse daily," Brice said.

Colorado Horse Rescue has 54 horses on-site, she said. Asked what makes one horse more prone than another to be bitten by flies, Brice explained that they're like humans in that way. One person standing there might be getting stung like crazy by mosquitoes, while the person next to them doesn't get stung once.

Moloznik said she recommends any type of fly control, given the prevalence of the disease this summer.

"It's not going to guarantee that they're not going to get it but it can at least help the herd in keeping the number of flies down in general," she said.

Sievers said that people do get VSV, but by taking precautions — such as washing themselves thoroughly after they've handled an animal — they should be fine. If a person does get it they won't get open sores, but rather will suffer flu-like symptoms, he said.

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